New Heart-Monitoring Device for Smartphones Could Save Your Life

Swiss researchers say new technology that interacts with smartphones could revolutionize the treatment of heart patients.

The device in question consists of four electrode sensors attached to the skin and linked to a radio module and computer chip that clips onto a patient’s belt. Data from the device is sent to a smartphone and can be viewed in real-time for up to 150 hours on a single charge. Any abnormalities are sent to a doctor via text or email with a picture attachment.

“Many of the problems with the heart are not very well understood,” says David Atienza, head of the Embedded Systems Lab, one of the tool’s developers. “It’s very difficult for doctors to anticipate what is going to happen. This device will provide a better understanding of what is going on.”

In a statement, cardiologist Etienne Pruvot from Lausanne University Hospitals Cardiology Service expressed enthusiasm for the technology, saying, “Its size, its lightness, its ease of use, the fact that it measures continuously and remotely, which allows analysis to take place anywhere, makes this device very attractive to doctors.”